Truth or Dare proves to be an increasingly silly endurance test for those outside of its PG-13, social media loving target market.

It makes sense that during these times of “Tide Pod” challenges and selfie grandstanding, that a horror movie would reflect the cultural norms of its audience. Horror movies above all film genres have successfully done so for decades now, since its form of entertainment from slasher film (A Nightmare on Elm Street) to all matter of supernatural fodder (Ginger Bites) taps into the fears of adolescence.

The fear that Truth of Dare taps into is simple: when does a game become a matter of life and death? It’s a question that could be turned into an interesting movie, yet Truth of Dare is not that film. Directed by Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2), Truth or Dare makes the fatal mistake of approaching its ridiculous premise with way more seriousness that it deserves. Gone is the humour that made previous high-novelty Blumhouse release Happy Death Day such a treat, replaced by an earnestness that is unintentionally hilarious and downright baffling.

The shenanigans begin during a Spring Break trip to Mexico, where a group of college friends led by the wholehearted Olivia (Lucy Hale) agree to a game of “truth or dare” in an abandoned church. It doesn’t take long for this past-time to become a curse, as a sadistic jokester demon haunts their every move with the option to either play the game or die.

Such high concept silliness is part and parcel of horror, yet Truth or Dare is an incredibly silly and tedious exercise, restricted by the constraints of its PG-13 rating, an absence of imagination and a complete lack of personality. These characters tick the boxes of every stereotype needed: oversexed, always with an alcoholic beverage in hand, and an overuse of social media that simply does not translate cinematically. Even worse is the lack of an identifiable villain to counter the banal victims, an evil spirit that possesses its victims into making silly, smiley faces accurately described by one character as looking like a “messed up Snapchat filter.” Hardly the stuff nightmares are made of.

When the films victims are as bland as the collection of college student catalogue faces found here, and its monster/evil spirit about as scary as bingo night at the local community hall, then perhaps those who made Truth or Dare should have asked themselves some home-truths about the quality of their film and dared themselves to make something much more interesting.